Snapshots
by darthelwig
Summary: Luke's thoughts while watching the girls live their lives. Each chapter is dedicated to a different episode of the show.
1. Chapter 1

"Snapshots" Chapter One

By darthelwig - I don't own em.

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This is intended to be a series from Luke's POV, following the series episode by episode. Mostly scenes from the diner. These are his thoughts as he observes the girls living their lives.

Season 1, episode 1

-:-:-:-:-

He saw her coming.

He knew what she wanted, what she came in for every day. That damn coffee she was addicted to.

He gave in to her too easily. She asked for it, and he couldn't help but provide it. Not just because it was a diner, and that's what he did for a living, but because it was her. He would give her any damn thing she wanted.

He poured her liquid death and watched her walk away. His eyes involuntarily went to her ass as she did. The sound of the phone snapped him out of his distracted thoughts.

He had his back to her table for only a moment, but when he turned around there was a guy standing there, talking to her. He forced himself to try and concentrate on the call. His attention kept getting pulled away.

 _"Who is that creep?"_ he wondered. He knew Lorelai wouldn't give the guy the time of day, but it still bugged him.

As predicted, she didn't let the guy stick around for long. He couldn't hear what was said, but he knew Lorelai. She always came in around this time of day to meet up with Rory, and she sure as hell wasn't gonna let that guy drool over her any longer than she had to when Rory could show up at any pleased him.

The next thing he knew, Lorelai was at the counter... holding a mug up AGAIN.

This time he was even more tempted to refuse her coffee, even if it was for her daughter. He hated to think what all that caffeine was doing to Rory.

He looked down to pour, and when he looked up the creep from earlier was now talking to Rory.

 _"Jeez, this guy moves fast,"_ he thought.

He smirked as he watched Lorelai head back over there. Her protectiveness of Rory knew no bounds, and he could tell the guy had her back up now.

 _"Wouldn't wanna be you, buddy,"_ he said to himself.

He got distracted for a little bit, so he didn't get to watch as closely as he would like to have, but he did get a glimpse of Lorelai's face as she sent the guy on his merry way. She looked very unamused, even through the smile she had plastered to her face. He must've been a real piece of work.

He was glad to see the creep leave the diner and take his friend with him. The guy was starting to get on his nerves.

He smiled, though, as he watched Lorelai take her seat again and start happily chatting with Rory. Everything was back the way it should be now.

Life could be good.

-:-:-:-:-

They looked down. Stressed. It was too quiet at their table. They were picking at their food. He rarely saw them pick at food, even if it WAS salad.

Something was wrong.

It bugged him. He tried to ignore it, but it bugged him. He hated seeing them anything but happy. They weren't supposed to be anything but happy.

He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. He had to go over there, though. Their food was ready.

He approached slowly and drew in a deep breath, readying himself to say something. Anything.

"Red meat can kill you. Enjoy," he said as he left the check at their table.

He walked away, kicking himself.

 _"Really? That's all you could think of? Idiot,"_ he said to himself.

When he turned back around to check on them, they were gone.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It wasn't their normal time of day to be in, but they took their usual table near the door.

They seemed better today. He could see it even from across the room. There seemed to be less tension between them, even though they seemed kind of tired.

He wasn't prepared for the way Lorelai's jaw dropped when he got to their table. He did a double take when he saw the look on her face.

"Wow. You look nice. Really nice," she said.

"I had a meeting earlier at the bank. They like collars," he said. He was both embarrassed and pleased by her reaction to him.

"You look nice too," he said, giving her a little smile. He hated that he felt so shy, but once again, he couldn't stop himself. When it came to Lorelai Gilmore, he was helpless.

"I had a flagellation to go to," she said.

He smiled, looking down at his order pad. He honestly had no idea what she meant or how to respond to that. He struggled with that for a moment, before giving up and asking what she wanted.

Coffee. As much as he could, or would, give her. He should've known. No matter what time of day it was, it was always coffee.

He just looked at her, unamused.

"I'll have coffee also. And chili fries," Rory said.

"That's quite a refined palate you got there," he said, exasperated. He shook his head and walked away. Bad enough Lorelai was intent on drowning herself in caffeine, but she had Rory doing it too. It was just too much for one man to take. The girl was only sixteen, for crying out loud.

He brought their order, but just had to say something. He couldn't just watch Rory drink her life away.

"I can't stand it," he said. "This is so unhealthy. Rory, please. Put down that cup of coffee. You do not wanna grow up to be like your mom."

"Sorry, too late," she said, with a little smile. Lorelai's face lit up with a brilliant smile of her own as she looked at her daughter, and then up at Luke.

He gave up. There was no changing these girls.

He smiled at Lorelai, shook his head, and walked away.

"Beautiful, but cracked," he thought. "Both of em. Like mother, like daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

"Snapshots" Chapter Two

Season1, episode 2

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It was a good day. The diner wasn't overly packed, though business was steady. The only dark spot marring the day so far was the stupid toaster he was trying to fix. Seemed like the damn thing stopped working at least once a week, but he wasn't gonna waste money on a new one when he could fix the one he already had.

Still, a good day so far.

Lorelai came in, talking a mile a minute.

"There's no coffee," he said.

"That's not funny."

Funny, because he thought it was pretty funny. He managed to keep a straight face, though.

He offered her herbal tea, even a balance bar, but she was having none of it.

"Please, please, please tell me you're kidding," she said.

"I'm kidding," he said, and dropped the screwdriver he was using so he could fetch her some coffee.

He barely listened as she complained about him, and she barely listened as he complained about her coffee consumption. It was their thing, their normal banter, and he would never let on, but he sorta liked it.

She was obviously having a bad day, so he asked her what was wrong.

It was hard to believe Rory was starting Chilton already, that she wasn't gonna be a Stars Hollow High girl anymore. Being a private school student was right for her, though, she was so smart. She deserved the best education she could get. He wanted all of her dreams to come true. He was proud of her.

It occurred to him that Lorelai would've dropped Rory off at school that morning. He eyed up her outfit, a pink tie dyed top and cut off shorts.

He managed to bite his tongue until she asked him what he was thinking.

"That's how you dressed to take Rory to Chilton? I mean, that's a fancy school."

"My clothes were at the cleaners, and I had the fuzzy clock, and it didn't purr on time!" she said.

"It didn't purr?"

"It's fuzzy. It purrs." Now she sounded irritated. "You know what? Never mind. I gotta go. I had a plan, damn it," she muttered.

"Me too. Next time, you're getting tea," he said, picking up his screwdriver again.

Lorelai glared at him as she walked out.

-:-:-:-:-

She came back. He wasn't expecting her to come in again so soon.

They nearly ran into each other when she walked in. The diner had gotten busy. He squeezed past, trying his best not to brush up against her. He wasn't used to being so close to her. It was definitely a situation that would make him uncomfortable fast.

He headed behind the counter and poured her a cup of coffee before she even sat down.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome."

"No lectures?"

"My blood sugar's low. I'll eat an apple and get back to you," he said. He felt bad about how they had left things that morning. She had left the diner upset. He hadn't meant to make her feel that way, and hated that he had. He could give her some coffee without complaint if it would cheer her up a little.

"God, this has been one hectic, bizzaro day for me," she said. "This morning with the being late, and my mother with her existing. Oh, and this father, this father from Chilton, he drove out to the inn all the way from Hartford just to ask me out."

He had been listening patiently, but that stopped him in his tracks. He tried to act nonchalant as he looked at her.

"Really? Are you going?" He looked back down. _"Be cool, Luke,"_ he thought.

"No. He's got a kid in school with Rory, and the whole thing just seemed a little weird," she said.

"Good," he said, without thinking.

"Good?"

"Yeah, I think it's good that you turned him down," he replied, trying to think of something to say to cover up his mistake.

"Okay." She was looking at him like he was crazy.

"I mean, he's probably old, right?"

"Old?" She sounded a bit offended.

"Yeah, I mean, he's got a kid in high school." He knew he was messing up bad. Why couldn't he stop putting his foot in his mouth?

"Well, so do I," she said.

"Yeah, but you were young when you had Rory. Most people aren't that young. Most people are..." He trailed off.

"Old," she said.

"Yeah."

"Like this guy who asked me out."

"But you're not going," he said, and he couldn't stop the note of concern in his voice.

"No, I'm not going," she said, looking down, seeming a little shy.

She looked up, and their eyes met. Held. For just a moment. He had to look away. He couldn't handle the intensity of her eyes when they were focused on him like that.

Her phone rang, and he pointed to his "no cell phone" sign without a word. He knew it wouldn't make a difference. She ignored him every time, but he still had to make the effort in the hopes that one day she would respect the rules of his establishment.

"I have to go," she said, pulling out her wallet.

"Keep it. I gave you decaf," he said.

She gave him the nastiest look on her way out. He supposed tricking her into drinking the dreaded decaf wasn't going to help her mood any, but it had been worth a try.

-:-:-:-:-

He saw the girls walking by the diner that night.

It was closing time. The last customers had just left, and he was cleaning up the tables. He glanced up and saw them out the window.

Lorelai looked so pretty. She was smiling at Rory, her hair down and tucked behind her ears. He loved when her hair was down. Now that he wasn't busy with customers he could take more than a quick moment to appreciate her beauty.

He thought about earlier that day, when their eyes met, and it seemed like there was a moment between them. It felt like she had looked at him, finally, as maybe more than a friend. As a man who might be interested in her in other ways.

They were walking past. It suddenly occurred to him to go out and ask them if they wanted to come in, maybe for some pie or something. He headed out, but they were already past the diner and crossing the street.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, feeling silly, watching them walk away. Then he turned, flipped the sign to closed, and went back in the diner. He would just see them tomorrow. Maybe that moment had meant more to him than it did to her. Maybe he was reading too much into things. Better to wait and see what developed. Better to not act on a stupid spur of the moment impulse.

Better to wait.


End file.
